German conductor Nikolas Nägele is internationally acclaimed for his stylistic clarity, musical integrity, and focused artistic vision. He is a recipient of the Aspen Conducting Prize and the James Conlon Conducting Prize at the Aspen Music Festival (USA). Following his tenure as Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin — where he conducted productions including La traviata, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Die Zauberflöte, and Un ballo in maschera—Nikolas regularly appears at leading opera houses and with major orchestras, including Oper Zürich, Oper Leipzig, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, and Müpa Budapest. With a special focus on Italian opera, he collaborates frequently with renowned institutions such as Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Filarmonico di Verona, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, where he is recognized as an expert interpreter of the bel canto repertoire. His repertoire bridges the Italian bel canto with the German operatic and symphonic repertoire of Strauss, Bruckner, Wagner, and the Viennese classics. The 2025/26 season opens with a new production of Die Fledermaus at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège and includes symphonic concerts with the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, a return to Norrlandsoperan in Sweden and and a new production of Verdi's Il Trovatore at Teatro Municipal de Lima. Recent highlights include Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri at Norrlandsoperan, Die Fledermaus at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Peer Gynt at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and La Cenerentola at Teatro Municipale in Athens. Nikolas Nägele has also appeared with the KBS Symphony Orchestra Seoul, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, and others, conducting works from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Gewandhausorchester to Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony and Puccini’s Turandot at the Alejandro Granda Festival in Lima. During his close collaboration with Christian Thielemann as a musical assistant both at the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Bayreuth Festival, Nikolas gained extensive experience with the Wagnerian repertoire. Collaborations with artists such as Juan Diego Flórez, Olga Peretyatko and Karine Deshayez or Misha Maisky and Vadim Gluzman further highlight his versatility. Born in Radolfzell on Lake Constance, he studied conducting, piano, and clarinet in Munich and Leipzig and now divides his time between Florence, Italy and Radolfzell, Germany. In his freetime, he enjoys hiking in the tuscan countryside , reading and spending time at the sea side of Viareggio.